Timelines and General Considerations for All Types of Proposal
The current deadlines and processes for submitting proposals can be found at the websites for the CEHSP Undergraduate Academic Affairs Council (AAC) and Graduate Program Council (GPC). All proposals must be submitted to Lynn Velander at least 7 days before the next Council meeting. Proposals are written by faculty. They must have worked their way through the relevant departmental curriculum process before being submitted to a CEHSP curriculum council. Proposals can only be submitted by the Department Head. This signifies their approval of the proposal. Although graduate proposals must be submitted and approved by the Department Head they must also have Director of Graduate Study approval before submission to the college. Please give yourself enough time to work through all stages of this process before the relevant deadline. Also, consider factoring in time for revisions because the AAC and GPC almost always have concerns that must be addressed before college approval is given.
New Course Proposals
Department Heads must notify the Dean that a new course is being discussed and consult with her regarding the idea prior to a course proposal being written. A faculty sponsor should make sure their Department Head has had this discussion before developing the proposal. Make sure the idea has been vetted at both the Department and College levels before making the formal proposal. For the time being all new course proposals must be a) budget neutral and b) not add to the total number of credits in a major (unless the major is under 50 credits). In order to reduce the common concerns that the college curriculum councils have, and to aid faculty in preparing course proposals, the AAC and GPC both created Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) documents. These identify the questions they most commonly send back to course proposers for clarification. Please review the appropriate FAQ when developing a course proposal. Addressing these concerns proactively during proposal writing will greatly speed up the college approval process. Further, when writing the student learning outcomes Bloom’s Taxonomy may be a helpful reference for identifying measurable verbs that are appropriate for the level of your course. Be sure to use the most current proposal form [NEW VERSION Feb. 2020]. Proposals for 8XXX-level graduate courses require that an addendum and a provisional syllabus accompany the course proposal form.
Online Courses
If a course is to be completely or primarily online, submit an Online Delivery Course Addendum through your Department Head. This can accompany a new course proposal or be submitted separately for an existing course not approved for online delivery. If a new course proposal form indicates that the course will be primarily or completely online an addendum is required to accompany it. When developing an online addendum please consider referring to system and campus resources for how to make the course accessible. I recommend consulting a system accessibility resource on developing 7 core skills for making things accessible to the widest array of students.
Community Engaged Learning (CEL)
If your course is identified as a CEL course a CEL addendum is required. This may accompany a new course proposal or be submitted on its own for an existing course seeking CEL designation. A course syllabus must accompany the addendum. The addendum is sent by the Department Head to Lynn Velander for review by the AAC or GPC. The CEL designation is approved for a five-year period and must be reapproved beyond that. Please consult the Community Engaged Learning Policy to determine if your course is appropriate for a CEL addendum.
Liberal Education Program (LEP) Designation
LEP proposals are evaluated by UMD Academic Affairs once per year in the spring. The CEHSP AAC reviews LEP proposals throughout the year. CEHSP follows the campus procedure for LEP proposals. The appropriate form, completed by the faculty sponsor, is submitted by the Department Head to Lynn Velander.
Course Changes
In general, if there are two or fewer changes to be made to a course they can be handled by an email memo from the Department Head to the Associate Dean describing a) what is being changed (i.e., what is currently the case for the course and what it will be with the change), and b) the desired effective term. Be aware that some changes imply the need for other ones. For example, changing credits usually requires a change in instructor contact hours and those are two separate changes. If the change impacts any other department (e.g., addition or elimination of a prerequisite course), documentation of consultation with the relevant department head must be forwarded to the Associate Dean as part of the request. If there are more than two changes to be made, the relevant fields of the course proposal form must be completed and sent by the Department Head to Lynn Velander for review by the AAC or GPC.
Changing a course number from one level to another (e.g., 3XXX to 2XXX) cannot be handled as a course change and VCAA requires a complete new course proposal be submitted.
Study Abroad Courses
The college no longer approves UMD Faculty-Led Study Abroad proposals for courses that have not been approved in advance through the curriculum process. There are two processes that must be worked in parallel: one is establishing the course as a UMD course, the other is establishing it as a course that can be offered through UMD Study Abroad. Follow these steps:
- Consult with the Dean and the Associate Dean about the course idea, determine collegiate support, and get guidance on the process. This will be at a minimum about 24 months before the summer the course is proposed to be scheduled in.
- Review the UMD Faculty-Led Program Leader Checklist. Review the UMD Study Abroad materials as indicated, consult with the Study Abroad team and collaborate with them to develop the international connections and partnerships.
- UMD Study Abroad has a deadline for their Course Proposal form that is typically November 1st for programs two summers out. If your course has not previously been approved submit a regular UMD course proposal to AAC or GPC, as appropriate, no later than September 15th the term the Study Abroad application is due. Note that this proposal must have been through your regular department curriculum process and be submitted to the Associate Dean and Lynn Velander.
- Complete the UMD Study Abroad proposal in consultation with the Dean and Associate Dean.
- If the course proposal is approved by the college, then get signatures on the Study Abroad proposal from the Dean and Associate Dean prior to the November 1st deadline.
New Program Proposals
These should be developed following the steps in the College Proposal Process for New Programs and following departmental practices and policies. See the preferred steps in CEHSP for new program development here. The document at this link was created as an aide based on faculty requests for guidance in program development. Please be aware it is our understanding that the Board of Regents and the EVCAA are discouraging new undergraduate major programs that exceed 120 credits for the degree.
New CEHSP majors with more than 50 credits within the major will not be approved by the Dean in the foreseeable future without compelling external reasons such as accreditation or licensure requirements.
Program and Catalog Language Changes
We have three tiered College deadlines based on how long it takes to fully process the volume of requests we get and allow more opportunity to catch and correct issues that arise with changes of greater complexity or with greater potential for unintended adverse consequences. There is a Program Change Form that impacts the process and details the levels of complexity. An electronic version of this form must accompany the revised catalog copy submitted with the requested changes. The various tiers and deadlines associated with them are described here, as is the process for submitting course and catalog changes.